In a recent interview with MTV, James Franco intimated that he was originally scheduled to make a small appearance in the upcoming sequel, 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,' but since 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' director Rupert Wyatt left the project and Matt Reeves ('Cloverfield,' 'Let Me In') took over, he doesn't expect he'll be getting to make that cameo.

Franco sounds like a teen waiting by the phone for their love obsession to call for a second date that isn't going to happen:

I was going to be a small part of the next one. There was a moment when Rupert Wyatt was going to direct the second one. A lot of the human characters that were in the first movie were dead in the sequel that Rupert was going to direct. But there was one scene, between Caesar and my character, maybe even just like on a video that was left behind, but then a lot of things happened, like [former Fox co-chairman] Tom Rothman who was a big part of the first movie, left. Now Rupert’s not a part of it so I don’t know. My guess is I won’t be in it. Nobody’s talked to me since Rupert left.

So that's that -- doesn't sound like the part was crucial anyhow, but it might have been neat to have a nod to his character in the second film. And while Franco was a big part of the 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes,' the real star was Andy Serkis, whose motion capture performance as lead chimp Caesar blew everyone away.